bad at love
by princess-of-the-worlds
Summary: His mouth is merciless, relentless in chasing hers, and he presses down on her shoulders hard enough that she knows that her skin will bruise in the shape of his hands, and her arms wind up around his neck, and her hands finds purchase in the unruly curls of his hair, and she gives them a savage yank, and he nips her bottom lip with ruthless intent in retaliation. HP!AU
1. Chapter 1

i.

"Who knew I'd find you here in detention of all places, Forbes?" Klaus Mikaelson asks in that smug, _smug_ voice, and Caroline wants to punch him in his pretty face.

No, really.

A large, violet bruise would mar the perfect symmetry of his stormy eyes and stupid dimples, and she wouldn't feel _so_ guilty about her constant staring, not when everyone else was too.

Instead, she settles for a brusque "Fuck off, Mikaelson."

"Rude." He smirks, and, with those soft, pink lips…

Caroline drops the cauldron she was supposed to be cleaning, and it hurtles down towards her foot, and she's too busy fuming and daydreaming to react in time.

Luckily, for Caroline's foot and for Gryffindor's Quidditch season, Klaus diverts the cauldron's course with a quick and silent swish of his wand, floating it back onto the table. "Don't want to lose that foot," he advices. "It's be a poor play for Gryffindor to lose their Keeper before the start of the season because she was distracted."

"What do you want, Mikaelson?" Caroline growls as she snatches the cauldron back into her arms and scrubs vigorously with her sudsy cloth at an invisible stain.

"Really, love? What's with the tone? I thought relations between the two of us would have improved after the events of this summer."

Ah, yes.

This summer.

One of the worst mistakes of Caroline's mind.

No, that's not fair.

The sex wasn't even that bad; in fact, it had been amongst the best of Caroline's short life and would have been the best if she hadn't slept with that one cute Muggle shopgirl the summer before sixth year.

This mistake in particular had occurred at Katherine Pierce's engagement party as she celebrated her upcoming marriage to Klaus' older brother Elijah.

Caroline had been tipsy on Firewhiskey, and Klaus had drained more flutes of champagne than he could care to admit, and they had locked eyes and gone through their usual stages of banter, then intimate teasing, and, finally, sexual tension thick enough to cut through with a knife.

But, this time, the sexual tension had won, and, the next thing Caroline knew, Klaus was slamming her against a hotel room door and ravishing her mouth in a brutal kiss.

Her dress hit the floor in a heap of cream-colored silk and lace, and, together, they struggled to squeeze Klaus out of his Muggle-style tuxedo.

Then Caroline was man-handling Klaus onto the expansive bed, and her lingerie joined her dress on the carpet, and the rest was history.

Now, four months later and a million miles away, Caroline shivers as she drags her mind away from the dirty montage of their fucking.

"That," she tells Klaus almost primly, "was a mistake."

"It didn't seem like a mistake at the time," Klaus says contradictorily. "As I vividly remember, you gave your very enthusiastic consent."

She flushes angrily, her hand unconsciously twitching for her wand. Sadly, it's locked away while she plays Muggle, cleaning cauldrons without magic, all because she hexed Tristan de Martel outside the Great Hall. "There were several factors at play, Mikaelson, and you know that. We were both under the influence, or you wouldn't have told me certain things."

Now, there's a slight reddening to his cheeks that Caroline's sure she isn't imagining.

"You're lying," he says confidently.

Caroline raises an elegant eyebrow. "Am I, _sweetheart_? I mean, would Elijah like to know that you were the one who anonymously tipped him off about Hayley's affair? Or, that you slept with her afterwards? I also know that you wish you had met your birth father before he died."

Klaus stiffens, shoulders tensing and expression wide-eyed. He gulps, looking open and vulnerable and flustered, and Caroline feels almost _guilty._

Then his guard is back up, and his face closes back off. "Shut up," he hisses. "You know nothing, Forbes."

Still, Caroline and her fucking mouth could never help themselves.

"I think I know enough, Mikaelson. Remember? Loose lips sink ships? And you never forgave yourself with destroying your parents' marriage after you accidentally outed your mother's affair."

"Shut up!" he nearly yells, lips in a tight firm line, hands curled in fists by his side.

Klaus surges forward, and Caroline steadies herself for confrontation, but he only crushes his mouth to hers in an angry kiss.

His mouth is merciless, relentless in chasing hers, and he presses down on her shoulders hard enough that she knows that her skin will bruise in the shape of his hands, and her arms wind up around his neck, and her hands finds purchase in the unruly curls of his hair, and she gives them a savage yank, and he nips her bottom lip with ruthless intent in retaliation.

It's desperate and passionate and three years of sexual tension and pining culminating for the second time, and Caroline's body begins to overheat underneath both her robes and uniforms as a line of sweat trickles down her neck.

Her hands slip between their bodies to unbutton her robes, and Klaus realizes her intent and rushes to aid her and bumps into a table.

Her bowl of cleaning solution is knocked to the floor with a clatter as the liquid spills onto the stone.

The noise reverberates in Caroline's ears, and she freezes, hands hovering over her third button.

 _What the fuck is she doing?_

Klaus steps back, recognizing her hesitation. "Caroline," he says softly.

"No," Caroline hisses. She shakes her head, carding her hands through her hair with frustration. "Just get out of here, Mikaelson," she tells him gruffly. "Go."

Klaus doesn't need to be told twice, and, with a whirl of his robes, he faces the door and marches out of the Potions classroom.

With trembling fingers, Caroline rebuttons her robes and then sinks to the floor in a slump, her face clutched in her hands.

/

 _Caroline leans back against the enormous iron wrought headboard, its edges digging into her bare back in a way that will leave imprints, but she can't bring herself to care, still drunk off endorphins and the alcohol and the high of her climax._

 _Klaus settles into the nest of blankets besides her, his shoulder brushing against her arm. He has a dopey smile fixed on his face, an expression so unguarded and vulnerable that Caroline wishes he would display more often because it makes the blue of his ocean eyes even bluer._

 _God, she sounds so lovesick._

" _Well, we certainly made a mess," she says, much more loudly than she intended to._

 _She had been referring to their clothes scattered around the room and the blankets shoved half-way to the ground, but Klaus' stare unabashedly drifts down her body. "Yes, we certainly did," he replies, his voice huskier than she has ever heard it before but still so smooth like the caramel on the cake they had been gorging on only hours previous. "You, sweetheart, made a lovely canvas."_

 _Her own gaze drops down to the countless bitemarks and hickeys that mark the skin of her neck, breasts, and thighs, and her ears burn as her cheeks pinken._

" _Shut it," she orders as she swats at his head._

 _He ducks and shoots her a playful smile. "I don't think I will, Caroline."_

 _Her name is gentle and flows sweetly from his lips, and, for some reason, her heart skips a beat._

 _Rolling her eyes, Caroline ignores him and refocuses her somewhat blurry attention on the ice bucket across the room. "Hold on," she tells him, hand flailing for her wand. She nearly knocks it off the nightstand, her coordination fucked by the alcohol, but manages to latch on to it at the last moment. She points it at the ice bucket with unsteady fingers. "_ Accio _champagne."_

 _Nothing happens._

 _Klaus laughs from the unexpectedness of it, and Caroline whines, falling back onto the bed._

" _It's not working," she complains with a pout. "Why isn't it working?"_

" _Alcohol impairs a wizard or witch's control over their magic," he recites verbatim in between fits of laughter._

 _Caroline whines again, curling her lips to make her pout even more pronounced._

" _Here," Klaus says roughly, "let me try."_

 _He plants a full-mouthed kiss on her mouth, hands drifting to stroke tenderly at her temples, before straightening up and grabbing his wand. He grips it shakily but still manages to mutter loudly and clearly, "_ Accio _champagne."_

 _With a jolt, the champagne bolt lifts from the ice bucket and flies towards them, landing unevenly on the bed before tilting backwards. Klaus catches the bottle before it slips to the ground._

" _How are we supposed to drink that?" Caroline asks, snatching the bottle from Klaus' arms and pressing the cool glass to her cheek. She sighs, sinking further into the welcoming plushness of the bed._

" _Like this, love." Klaus gently eases the bottle from her and holds it a few feet away from himself. He drops his wand back onto the nightstand. "Watch this."_

 _He mutters no incantation under his breath, but the bottle's cork still flies off with a loud_ pop _and lands on the opposite side of the room._

" _Impressive," Caroline drawls. "Wandless and non-verbal magic."_

" _I've been practicing," Klaus says seductively, an attempt which would have been more effective if his speech wasn't audibly slurring._

" _Shut up." Caroline leans forward, falling onto her hands and knees, and wraps her lips around the bottle, prying it easily from Klaus' hands. The champagne explodes across her tongue, sharp, bubbly, and sweet. "This is good. Where'd Katherine find this?"_

 _Shrugging, Klaus takes the bottle from her and chugs the alcohol like one would chug beer; they are both too wasted to give a shit about propriety and manners. "I dunno. What does matter is that we finish this bottle."_

 _And, they do, passing it between themselves, drinking in silence but sharing soft glances and smiles in the moments between._

" _That sex was so…" Caroline begins but trails off, at a loss of words._

" _I know, love." Klaus nods silently, finishing off the last of the champagne with a gulp._

 _Caroline watches his Adam's apple bob attractively, and, then, her eyes wander to the scratches her nails scores into his chest. "Why didn't we do this before?"_

" _We could never stop hating each other," Klaus jokes, but there's a darker underlying tone to his words._

" _I don't hate you," she blurts, and they are both stunned into silence by her sudden confession, but the words keep spilling from her mouth. "I've never hated you. Despite all that we've done to each other, I could never hate you. I feel drawn to you. And, yes, I cover our connection with hostility, because, yes, I hate myself for the truth. But I've never hated you, and I never will be able to."_

 _In the silence that ensues, Caroline's chest begins to close in, her throat drying, until Klaus finally speaks:_

" _Sweetheart, you're strong, beautiful, full of light. You're a flame burning so bright that I must turn away from, because, if I give in, I will either snuff you out or you will burn me."_

 _She stares down at him breathlessly, eyes wide, mouth gaping, visibly touched. "So, this entire time, we've been two idiots who could never pulls their heads from their asses enough to realize that we have feelings for each other," she whispers softly._

 _Klaus chuckles, partly out of relief. "That's one way to put it."_

" _God," she exclaims loudly to the ceiling. "We're such idiots!"_

 _With swift movements, she yanks Klaus' head up to kiss him fiercely._

 _They roll over in the sheet, spending hours kissing and basking in the comfort of each other until the influence of the champagne and tiredness catches up to them._

/

 _When morning comes, a delirious Caroline will rouse to the sun's brightness filtering past her tightly-shut eyelids. She will toss to the side, hoping to escape the light, and will come face-to-face with the boy her heart will never allow her to hate._

 _Shaken, memories hazy, Caroline will slip from his embrace and will dress hastily, sliding her wand into her purse and fleeing from the hotel._

 _Klaus will awaken to the sound of the hotel door slamming shut, and he will groan and reach out for the warmth of another body, only to find the bed empty. He will push himself, leaning on his elbows, and his gaze will travel down his body to examine the marks littering his skin._

 _As will Caroline's as she swiftly attempts to remove said marks using magic in a bathroom in the hotel lobby._

 _Both their minds will only remember flashes: the party, their gazes meeting across the ballroom, snatches of their conversations, the first kiss._

 _Neither will be able to recall the interaction_ afterwards _, the one where everything changed._

 _Both will try to return to life as normal, but they will no longer be able to remain in their fixed orbits when gravity already brought them crashing together._

/


	2. Chapter 2

ii.

It's Friday, four days after Klaus and Caroline's encounter in detention, and the Gryffindor seventh-years unfortunately have their NEWT-level Defense Against the Dark Arts with Slytherin.

Professor Saltzman stands at the front of the classroom, watching their homework float in and settle onto a preexisting stack of parchment. Once every assignment's been collected, he clears his throat and deliberates until all eyes are on him. "The school year has only been in session for a few weeks, and you all completed your comprehensive summer assignments. We spent the first month reviewing, and, now, we'll begin October with a bit of a treat. Today, we shall be dueling in pairs."

The class erupts into cheers, and Caroline allows herself to smile.

It's not often that they get to practice their magic with practicality; most of them in this class intended to go on to future careers that demanded high and heavy usage of magic like the Ministry or the staff of Azkaban.

Caroline herself wanted to go into the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and be an Auror like her mother before her.

"But," Professor Saltzman says, "don't get used to this. This won't happen every month. Plus, there's a catch. You will be graded."

Several students groan.

Saltzman continues on, "You and your partners will be graded on creativity. Non-verbal and wandless magic will be awarded bonuses. Now, partners…Lockwood and Salvatore. Bennett and St. John. Donovan and Gerard. Both de Martels. Forbes and Mikaelson."

Caroline groans, burying her head in her arms, and Bonnie pats her back gently.

"Tough luck, Care." She sounds sympathetic, but Caroline knows that, if she glances up, her best friend will be smiling mischievously.

"Oh, go duel with your boyfriend," Caroline snaps with irritation, and Bonnie disappears from her side, still smiling.

Caroline remains slumped over for a few more peaceful moments until she finally forces herself to stand, shoving her chair back with a screech. Sluggishly, she moves to stand in the corner Saltzman assigned to her and Klaus.

"Mikaelson," she says neutrally.

Klaus, on the other hand, displays no regard for civility. "Forbes," he returns with a sharp nod and a nearly-cruel tilt to his head. He wields Caroline's name like a sword and strikes it deep in her heart with his malicious tone.

She winces, noticeably, and his wolfish smirk grows.

"Remember," Professor Saltzman says as he surveys the room. "You and your partner should be evenly-matched but tap out any time you deem it necessary. I will be watching, and we all know which charms and spells are valid for this duel. Wands at the ready."

Caroline stands facing Klaus as they run through the formal steps of a wizard's duel.

"You may start," Saltzman announces.

Keeping a firm grip on her wand, she meets Klaus' gaze, her body tense as she prepares for his attack.

He doesn't disappoint.

His first spell is nonverbal, and the only indication Caroline gets that he's cast it at all is the swift movement of his wand as he swipes it forward and the scarlet flash of light that identifies it as a Stunning Spell.

Deflecting the spell with a quick Shield Charm, Caroline counters Klaus by sending her own Stunning Spell at him.

" _Protego!_ " Klaus doesn't even wait as the spell rebounds off his shield; he calmly sticks his wand out and says, " _Petrificus Totalus._ "

The speed of the spell as it hurtles at her forces Caroline to duck; she would have never gotten another Shield Charm up in time.

Gritting her teeth, she channels her frustration into her next spell. " _Locomotor Mortis_!"

Klaus sidesteps her spell with a lazy grace. "Really, Forbes?" he asks condescendingly. "A Leg-Locker Charm? We aren't in first year anymore."

"Fuck you!" she shoots back not as eloquently as she'd liked. She fires a Disarming Charm at him, but it bounces harmlessly against a wall as he deflects it with a casual Shield Charm.

He smirks arrogantly, but there is discernible rage in the shadows of his eyes. "I thought I already did, sweetheart."

" _Stupefy_!"

He doesn't even blink, batting the spell away with a flick of his wand. In rapid succession, he casts three Disarming Charms, and she finds herself cornered. Her wand flies from her hand, and he catches it, twirling it mockingly in his spare hand. "I know you can do better than that, love."

Caroline squashes her anger and breathes slowly, retaining her calm. Then she smiles cunningly as Klaus is flung none-too-gently into the wall behind him.

"Nice use of nonverbal and wandless magic there, Ms. Forbes. Extra points for that," says Professor Saltzman, passing directly over where Klaus had been standing. "I assume you know a basic healing spell, Mr. Mikaelson?"

"I'll be fine." Klaus grits his teeth as he waves Saltzman off. He limps to his feet and bends to pick up the wands and finds them secure in Caroline's hands.

"Amazing what a simple _Accio_ or _Wingardium Leviosa_ can do," she says all too happily, tossing him his wand.

A few moments later, the bell rings to signal the end of that block of classes, and Klaus drops his notebook and quill into his satchel and storms out.

"Wait, Mikaelson!" Caroline cries, the words slipping from her mouth before she realizes it. She hastily packs her supplies and hurries out after him.

Klaus has already slipped to the other end of the hallway, which is rapidly filling as students flood out of their classrooms, and Caroline rushes to squeeze past a pack of midget Ravenclaw first-years.

"Pardon me," she says several times before she loses patience and charges through the crowd. When she reaches the end of the hallway, Klaus has already disappeared, and she twists to clutch the wall in frustration. "Damnit!"

/

It's hours later, when Caroline is settled in the Gryffindor common room after it finally emptied of irritating first-years, that she tells her friends of the events that transpired between her and Klaus since summer.

Elena's eyebrows bridge together tightly as a pinched look comes onto her face. She pushes sleek chestnut hair behind her ear and says, "It's just weird. To think of you and Klaus like that. It's just that…Klaus's so awful."

"He's not _awful_ ," Caroline responds defensively, blushing when Bonnie turns an inquisitive gaze on her. "He's not."

"Aww." Stefan, the only one of them who is actually friends with Klaus, laughs. "You're defending him."

"Shut up, Salvatore." Caroline shoves a pillow at him. "What do you think, Bon?"

"I think you're both idiots," Bonnie says straightforwardly. "Admittedly, Mikaelson is a bit of an asshole, but I've seen the way he looks at you when he thinks no one's looking. He's wrapped around your finger; he always looks like a lovesick puppy."

Something floats up from the dredges of her consciousness.

" _Sweetheart, you're strong, beautiful, full of light. You're a flame burning so bright that I must turn away from, because, if I give in, I will either snuff you out or you will burn me."_

"Care?" Stefan asks cautiously, and Caroline realizes that her eyes have glazed over. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she mumbles. "Sorry, just remembered something urgent." She jumps to her feet, checking to see that her wand is stuffed into her robes' pocket. "Klaus still patrolling tonight?"

"He should be," Stefan answers in confusion. "He's Head Boy. Caroline, are you sure you're fine?"

"Yup." She turns to him and smiles. "Never felt better."

It's true; filled with the sudden euphoria and overwhelming warmth she feels, Caroline could take on the world.

Adrenaline thrums through her veins as she slips out the entrance to the common room, ignoring Elena and Bonnie's cries behind her.

/

"Point me Klaus Mikaelson," Caroline whispers, setting her wand on the stone floor, the chill seeping in through the thin fabric of her robes and jeans as she kneels.

Her wand spins and points east, so she snatches it up and races, following its directions at every point that she loses the trail.

Finally, she ends up on the fourth floor, where Klaus and the Head Girl, a Ravenclaw named Cami O'Connell, are just parting ways.

"Forbes?" Cami gasps. "What are you doing here? It's too late to be roaming the hallways."

"I'm here for Klaus," Caroline says directly and watches as Klaus stiffens and turns back from where he was, presumably, heading to the Slytherin dorms in the dungeons.

"I've got this, Camille; you can head up to the Ravenclaw Tower," Klaus states neutrally. When Cami appears to hesitate, he flashes her a charming smile. "We'll be fine, love."

Cami blushes slightly at the pet name, and Caroline tries not to bristle, but the other blonde disappears in moments.

"Do you want a detention, Forbes, or is there a reason you're still out here after curfew?" Klaus asks dully, moving aimlessly down the hallway.

Caroline regains her confidence and advances towards him. " _Sweetheart, you're strong, beautiful, full of light. You're a flame burning so bright that I must turn away from, because, if I give in, I will either snuff you out or you will burn me,_ " she recites.

Klaus stops in his tracks in shock and whirls around to face her. "Caroline?"

"Do you remember saying that?" Caroline questions, "because I didn't. Remember, that is, until a few hours ago."

"Love…" Klaus tries again.

"So, we slept with each other. It was good, better than good. Not the best of my life, but that's a story for another time. But there must have been a basis for that sex. Enemies don't just give in and sleep together; that only happens in fiction. We had, we have, chemistry, passion, whatever; we have something based on emotions, and we both know those emotions don't involve hatred."

"Caroline," Klaus sighs. "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to confess my feelings for you," she tells him, and he blinks slowly. "I don't hate you. Of course, I don't love you either, but I could."

"This all seems a bit familiar," he responds dryly, but there's a hint of a smile tugging at his lips.

"Damnit right it should." Caroline wrinkles her nose. "We've already done this, I'm betting, but neither of us remember it, so it probably happened when we were super-drunk."

He chuckles, and familiar butterflies erupt in her stomach.

"I'll be drawing," he begins slowly. "I'll be drawing anyone. Bekah. Marcel. Lucien. And, it'll somehow turn into you, love. I close my eyes, and I can see the fire of your eyes as you order your Quidditch team through drills at practice."

"Hold up," Caroline interrupts angrily. "Have you been spying on our practices?"

"No. Sometimes, I wait for Stefan, or, sometimes, I sit to sketch you."

"No spying on us," she demands.

Klaus smirks but not with his usual arrogance. "Alright, sweetheart. Understood. No more spying."

"Good." Caroline smiles brightly.

Then she moves forward to slam him into the stone wall, pressing her body against his and leaving him nowhere to go. She kisses him passionately, hands winding around his neck while his clutch at her waist.

They make out for minutes, time passing as fast as a turtle, until Klaus gasps up for air.

"Is this a thing we will be doing?" he demands between breaths.

"If you want." Caroline shrugs before leaning up to bite at his earlobe.

"Good, because I'm determined to make this sex the best of your life."


End file.
